Do-it-yourself furniture restoration

It so happens that the farm has old furniture, which pretty much spoils the overall look of the interior. The upholstered upholstery on upholstered furniture, a scratched table, a chest of drawers cracked from time to time - all this does not give a zest to the overall design of the apartment, these things are old and tired. Old things, as a rule, are made very high quality, solid wood is used as a basis, the frame is durable, they are made to last, for centuries. Therefore, it would be advisable to consider such an option as the restoration of furniture with your own hands. You will learn more about this today - get acquainted with the recovery methods and learn the features of this process.

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Methods of restoration of wooden furniture

You can return the attractive appearance of wooden furniture in various ways: you can refresh its appearance, radically change the color or texture. The final result will depend on the restoration method chosen.

The following main restoration methods are distinguished:

• Coating with stain and varnish. With the help of stain you can update the look of wooden furniture, as the shade of the surface is slightly darkened and things take on their original appearance. There are many shades and types of stains on sale - you can easily find something that will satisfy all your needs. Stain is applied to the prepared surface with a brush. After the stain is applied, the product is coated with two layers of varnish.
• Decoupage. This is an interesting decorative technique, when used on a product lubricated with PVA glue, special napkins with a pattern are glued, after which the decorated furniture is varnished. This method is good because napkins perfectly hide all the flaws on the old furniture and radically change its appearance.

Important! Decoupage is relevant in the interior in the styles of Provence and Vintage.

• Painting and paint. This method is most often used to furniture to place a bright accent in the interior. A bright red chest of drawers, a rich blue table or a cheerful yellow cupboard can become the center of attention, make the interior stylish and memorable. Universal for painting white. As for the painting, it requires certain artistic skills. After painting, the product is recommended to be opened with varnish.
• Self-adhesive film. This method of restoration of old furniture is pasting the restored surface with a self-adhesive film. Such a film has a very extensive palette of colors and textures.
• Craquelure coating. Craquelure is applied to the prepared surface and after drying the product takes the form of aged furniture. The effect is achieved due to the appearance of cracks evenly distributed over the entire surface.
• Veneering. With this method, glue is applied to the surface of the product, an veneer is applied to it, which is ironed through paper.

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Furniture restoration process

In order to apply one of the restoration techniques, it is necessary to prepare the product for decorative work. Do not rush and immediately proceed to the decor - just dyeing or pasting in this case can not do. The whole restoration process is very laborious and painstaking.

The following stages are distinguished for the restoration of wooden furniture with their own hands:

• Preparatory work. At this stage, it is necessary to strengthen all the shaken elements, tighten the hinges, and if necessary replace them.It is necessary to carefully examine the accessories and, if necessary, replace it with a new one.

Important! If the thing being restored requires the presence of pens, then, based on the planned style of the future product, it is worth considering replacing them with more suitable ones in style.

• Disassembly for details. If possible, disconnect all collapsible parts, remove accessories - so you can more thoroughly clean all the elements and cover your product with paint or varnish.
• Product cleaning. At this stage, it is necessary to thoroughly clean all surfaces from contamination using a sponge and warm soapy water. If the furniture contains small parts, they can be cleaned with a toothbrush. To remove strong impurities, sandpaper with the smallest abrasive spraying is suitable, it is also called nulevka. If the product has cracks in which dirt has accumulated, it is worth using a toothpick to remove it.
• Repair minor damage. If the old furniture has cracks, chips and scratches, then they should be repaired with a special putty. After the putty dries, fine sandpaper needs to be polished to the place of repair. If you plan to preserve the color of the product and simply cover it with varnish, then the place of application of the putty must be painted after drying with a paint matched by shade.
• Removing the old coat of varnish. If the old product was varnished, then it must be removed. To do this, sandpaper or special solvents to remove varnish are suitable.

Important! All paintwork must be carried out in a protective mask. This also applies to dusty work associated with sanding the surface.

• Primer. Before you start painting and decorating, it is better to prime the product - thus the new layer will lie more firmly on the product.
• Dressing up the product. After you have completed all the preparatory work, it is worth starting to decorate the furniture. If during painting the product more than one color of paint will be used or if several restoration methods will be used at once, parts and parts that will not be involved in painting should be glued with masking tape. Depending on the chosen restoration method, carry out the necessary work, and if technology requires it, varnish the product.
• Assembly and installation of new fittings. After gluing, painting or varnishing is done, it is necessary to install the accessories on the product, if it was disassembled, then assemble it.

As you can see, do-it-yourself furniture restoration is not such a complicated process. The most important thing is to carry out each of the steps as accurately as possible, applying diligence and zeal. The final result will depend on the quality of the preparatory work. Remember that such furniture is almost priceless. A maximum of labor and effort has been invested in it. The retro thing, into which new life was breathed, transforms any home.

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Restoration of upholstered furniture

If you decide to restore an old armchair, sofa or upholstered chair, then you have to face not only the restoration of wooden elements, but also make the rehabilitation of the soft parts of the product. As a rule, a complete replacement of the upholstery fabric is made, the filling is updated, which eventually lost its functionality, went astray and sank.

Important! Experts say that at home you can restore soft chairs, but it’s better to entrust the professionals to change the upholstery of the chair and sofa. This process requires special skills, the availability of certain tools and equipment.

Based on this information, we recommend that you familiarize yourself in more detail with how to restore old upholstered furniture, in particular a chair.

Stages of soft stool restoration:

• Remove soft parts from wood frame. As a rule, they are fastened with screws or inserted into special grooves.
• To restore the wooden frame.You have already familiarized yourself with how to do this.
• Remove the upholstery fabric from the seat and back of the chair, as a rule, it is attached with brackets to the plywood base. It is enough to straighten the staples, and the fabric can be easily removed. Remove old foam rubber.
• Buy a dense upholstery fabric, based on your preferences and interior style, cut out patterns of a new upholstery from it. To do this, just attach old pieces from the seat and back to the new furniture fabric, circle them, cut the blanks.
• Prepare a new foam rubber for packing or modern polyurethane foam. Cut it to the pattern of plywood on which it is attached, leaving a few allowances to overlap the ends.

Important! You can use several layers of foam rubber: more rigid - to put on the base, and soft - to place the top layer, this will create additional comfort when sitting. On the back, foam rubber of lesser thickness is usually used.

• Lay the foam on the base, fixing it with special glue.
• Cover the base with foam with upholstery fabric and fix it to the bottom with a construction stapler. Before fastening everything with special staples, make sure that the fabric is laid flat, make sure that you have formed uniform angular folds.
• Insert the soft elements into the chair frame and fix them.

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Stock footage

Now you know how to restore old furniture at home and, if necessary, you can easily rehabilitate old interior items. Do not forget that the restoration process helps to revive old things that have their own history and carry a certain mood. Changing new to old is always very simple, but revitalizing old things is a real art!